Moldova's presidential election is heading for a run-off after preliminary results showed Pro-European Union opposition leader Maia Sandu held a small lead over her main opponent, incumbent President Igor Dodon.

Data from the central election commission showed that former Prime Minister Sandu had 36.10 percent of the vote, while Dodon had 32.66 percent after 99.81 percent of the ballots were counted. 

With no candidate having the more than the 50 percent needed to gain a majority, a run-off election will take place on November 15.

Pro-Russia populist Renato Usatii was the only other of the eight candidates to gain more than 10 percent of the vote.

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Dodon, who has held office since 2016, has pledged to roll out a settlement next year for the breakaway Russian-speaking region of Transnistria.

Meanwhile, Sandu led a coalition government last year that was brought down by a no-confidence vote within months. She has promised to secure more financial support from Brussels if voted in. 

"This is an extraordinary mobilization. Thank you," Sandu said to those who voted for her. 

A former World Bank economist, Sandu has received messages of support from German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (a close ally of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel) as well as from former European Council President Donald Tusk, something Dodon's supporters have condemned. 

The head of Russia's SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, last week accused the U.S. of plotting protests against Dodon because of his good relationship with Moscow.